Lawrence Hickey, 1925-2012

Former chief of investment management firm Stein Roe & Farnham

Lawrence Hickey, the former chairman of Chicago wealth management firm Stein Roe & Farnham, shared his financial acumen regularly with leaders of the Catholic Church in Chicago.

"Larry was one of these quiet giants," said Monsignor Kenneth Velo, president of the Big Shoulders Fund. "I know Cardinal Joseph Bernardin respected Larry's opinion greatly and regularly sought his counsel in terms of finances."

Mr. Hickey, 87, died of a stroke Monday, Dec. 24, at his home in Northfield, said his daughter Shawn Sweeney.

Mr. Hickey was a graduate of Loyola University in Chicago, and after a fellowship at the Catholic University of America, he earned a law degree from Harvard in 1948.

After law school he joined St. Louis brokerage Longstreet-Abbott, trading onions in the agricultural pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 1954 he joined Stein Roe in Chicago as an associate.

Mr. Hickey was chairman of the firm's executive committee from 1971 to 1986, and president and chief executive officer from 1986 to 1988.

During his years as chairman, the assets under management at Stein Roe grew from $3 billion to almost $30 billion, said Chicago investment manager Marshall Front, former president of Stein Roe's investment counseling group.

"He had an incredible appetite for work, and he was the ultimate practitioner of investment counseling," Front said. "He was able to take his education and his experience and parlay that into being a very trusted adviser to some of Chicago's most influential and wealthy families."

Mr. Hickey retired from Stein Roe in 1990.

He was active in a number of Catholic organizations, sitting on many boards, including those of the Big Shoulders Fund, Catholic Charities of Chicago and the Catholic Television Network.

"His mantra was, 'Make God your partner,'" said his son Larry. "My father always felt that if he fulfilled his end of the deal, God would fulfill his end of the deal."

Friends said Mr. Hickey never called attention to his work.

"He would never accept an honor," said Bob Pasquesi, a colleague at Stein Roe. "Loyola once tried to honor him with a plaque, and he knew it was coming, and he didn't show up. He would say, 'If you give me that award, you're taking away what I'm getting in heaven.' He wanted to do his job silently and disappear from sight."

Mr. Hickey also served from 1980 to 1994 on Northfield's police and fire commission. In 1980 he was one of the commissioners who hired the village's current police chief, Bill Lustig.

"Larry worked very hard in the selection process for Northfield police officers," Lustig said. "He had a great ability to know people and care about people, and to know whether people would be good or bad in a position."

Mr. Hickey also is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ada; two other sons, Mark and Brian; another daughter, Mary Lynne; and seven grandchildren.